Terms Chapter 6

The movement of nutrients to the interior portion of the body.

The outflow of acidic water from (sometimes abandoned) metal mines or coal mines.

Tiny solid particles or liquid droplets that remain suspended in the atmosphere for a long time.

absence of oxygen

Chemical forms of nutrients that organisms can use.

the flow of matter among storages in the biological, geological, and chemical systems of Earth

All living organisms

Organic molecules that contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.

The act or process of clearing forests

The loss of gaseous nitrogen from soil through biological or chemical means

Breaking complex forms of organic molecules into smaller forms.

Molecules that an organism cannot synthesize from its constituents.

the ecosystem response to the addition of artificial or natural substances, mainly phosphates, through detergents, fertilizers, or sewage, to an aquatic system

Organic molecules that contain only carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen and can store large amounts of energy per unit mass.

Movements of energy or materials between storages in a system.

Severe malnutrition caused by a diet with insufficient protein that is found primarily in young children.

Plants that have symbiotic relationship with nitrogen fixers.

The growth rate of plants often is determined by the nutrient that is least abundant or least available relative to the needs of the plant.

The nutrient that is in least supply relative to the quantity required by an autotroph.

conversion of organic forms of nutrients to inorganic forms

A process whereby ammonia is oxidized to nitrite and then to nitrate by bacterial or chemical reactions.

A biological or chemical process by which molecular nitrogen, from the atmosphere, is converted to organic or available nitrogen.

Molecules an organism can synthesize from its constituents.

movement of energy or matter against the tendency toward a greater state of entropy